Learn the Style That Made Bruce Lee Famous: Wing Chun
Contributed by Kendall Stewart
Have you ever wanted to learn Kung Fu? Are you a Bruce Lee fan? Wing Chun Alaska is bringing Bruce Lee's original style to Alaska! Learn from Master Philip Redmond the sacred art of Wing Chun Kung Fu. Master Philip Redmond is a closed-door disciple of Grandmaster William Cheung, Bruce Lee's beloved friend, trainer, and Kung Fu senior. Don't miss your opportunity to learn the Kung Fu that made Bruce Lee famous.
Here's the true story of how Bruce Lee became a martial artist. Most people don't know, but Bruce Lee was a childhood actor. When he was young, he played the bully in a famous TV show in China. When he went to school, he used to get beat up by the other students, and his parents hired a kid bodyguard to watch after him. The kid bodyguard's name was William Cheung. Bruce Lee was impressed with William Cheung's Kung Fu and asked to meet the master. William Cheung introduced Bruce Lee to his first teacher, Yip Man. Bruce Lee excelled, and one defining part of his training was that he wanted to practice over and over again before moving on to the next phase, which was very dynamic and caused him to be the great martial artist he was.
Brief History of Wing Chun:
Five of China's grandmasters met to discuss the merits of each of the various forms of Kung Fu in order to develop a form with a shorter learning period. By choosing the most efficient techniques from each style, they developed training programs that would develop an efficient martial artist in 5 to 7 years, one-third the original time. However, before this new form could be put into practice, the Shaolin Temple was raided and burned by the Manchurians. Ng Mui, a nun, was the only survivor of the original five grandmasters. She passed her knowledge onto a young orphan girl whom she named Wing Chun. The name means "Praise Spring," representing "hope for the future." An emperor asked for the young girl's hand in marriage, but the young girl challenged him to a duel. If she won, she would not have to marry him. The nun taught her Wing Chun, and she defeated the emperor.
Grandmaster Cheung went on to become one of the top teachers and trainers in the world, and he is currently based out of Australia. Grandmaster Cheung held a Kung Fu seminar in 1981, and my teacher, who taught a different style of Wing Chun, left his position to become Cheung's student and has been training and teaching ever since. I had the opportunity to meet Grandmaster Cheung and Master Philip Redmond at multiple seminars, and in 2013, Redmond became my official teacher. After many years of training and practice, I have just reached my level 10. I am certified to teach Wing Chun in Alaska. If you want to learn more about Wing Chun or possibly train, please don't hesitate to reach out.
For more information, contact wingchunalaska@gmail.com or Sifu Stewart at 907-521-9168.